The neighborhood meeting, the first of three this year, stood and weighed in the beginning of the second half. Then Fridolina Rolfö got the ball outside the penalty area, took a few steps towards the goal – and then it just went bang.
It looked easy and effortless when Rolfö's shot bored into the net behind Maya Bay Østergaard in the Danish goal.
I got a good hit. It was an important goal, so it felt significant anyway, says Rolfö in SVT and continues:
I decided shortly before. I felt I got a good first touch and then I could just clip it. I saw that the goalkeeper was a bit to the left, so there was a lot of space at the far post. It was incredibly nice.
Björn was missing
The classy goal in the 54th minute meant Swedish leadership for the second time in the match. For it started well for Blågult in this year's first football national team match, where Nathalie Björn was stopped by injury concerns and replaced by Linda Sembrant in central defense.
And the 37-year-old national team veteran ended up in the center of events early on.
In the chaos after Hanna Bennison's pass, Sembrant was the last Swedish player on the ball, even though it looked like Danish Stine Ballisager might have been the one who actually got the ball over the line in the end.
It was a goal anyway – and a Swedish dream start in the seventh minute.
The start could have been even more dreamlike, for just a minute later, Filippa Angeldahl had a giant opportunity to make it 2–0.
Instead, it became 1–1 in the 17th minute, on a safely taken penalty from Pernille Harder after an unintentional handball by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.
Meet in the European Championship premiere
Then Rolfö struck and secured the three points, in front of just 3,202 spectators on this chilly February evening. Maybe the win also gives a small mental advantage ahead of upcoming meetings, first in Solna in early June and then in the enormously important European Championship premiere in Geneva on July 4.
Next, Sweden will now travel to Wrexham and Tuesday's Nations League match against Wales, which earlier on Friday evening started the group play with a 0–1 loss away to Italy.
